Bad Habit

[Mike Belt]

I love to hear that "thump" sound when you stick a deer but I just haven't had any luck at Ames archery hunting. I think I'm getting back to where I started when I first began bow hunting. I hunted 5 years before I began killing deer with a bow. Prior to that I was killing deer regularly with a gun. When I really started to think about why I was having no luck I realized that in all the scouting I was doing I was really scouting for what was to come during rifle season rather than what was happening at the moment. I find places that I want to be when rifle opens but just kind of skim over where I need to be with a bow. Once I devoted scouting to killing deer with a bow I began to do so. I think I'm slipping.

 

[darn2ten]

LOTS of people are guilty of that. I went thru about a 7 year stretch in the 90's where I only bow hunted. Learned a lot about how to change with the season. Like you I do feel like I've slipped some.

 

[richmanbarbeque]

I do the opposite. Once gun season starts it's a mad scramble to adjust stands.

 

[Headhunter]

Most of my bow hunting is finding acorns and especially the ones the deer are actively eating. Meaning, learn where the oak trees are, what kind they are and what deer prefer. Been doing this for over 30 years and it generally pays off.

 

[catman529]

I usually go with the flow. When setting a stand in the woods I have stands for bow season, stands for the rut and for the late season, or a combination of the 3. I don't usually leave a stand just for gun hunting, as I often gun hunt from the ground or just pick a tree to climb or pick a stand that looks good


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[Mike Belt]

cat...When I wasn't limited to 2 stands I had several hung for a combination of hunts. When you're on 18,600 acres and can only have 2 stands it's not like you can quickly walk over to one of them and pull it to hunt elsewhere.

 

[Back Home]

I do the opposite. Once gun season starts it's a mad scramble to adjust stands.

Same here

 

[Bone Collector]

Since I primarily hunt PP WMA during bow all my sets there are for bow hunting. Once ML starts I start hunting my private spots, which consist of mine and my brothers properties, along with a couple of small tracts. The stands on mine and my brother's properties are primarily gun stands, but you could bow hunt a few of them. When I hunt the other private spots, I know the area i want to be in and i just pick a tree.

 

[catman529]

cat...When I wasn't limited to 2 stands I had several hung for a combination of hunts. When you're on 18,600 acres and can only have 2 stands it's not like you can quickly walk over to one of them and pull it to hunt elsewhere.

that's not many stands for that many acres, how many people are on the property?


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[Mike Belt]

It fluctuates. Anywhere from 87 to the 100 we have this year. I could easily hang a dozen+ stands myself and I can see why we all can't do that but at least 3. That rule's not going to change though. If we have 2 stands up and a third in our truck for whatever reason...say you're planning on swapping it out with one of your others.. it's counted as having a third stand up. What I really wish would happen would be to allow us several stands apiece but only 2 can be up at any given time. If we had any others out they'd have to be disassembled and laying on the ground. Sometimes the distance we have to walk or what we have to go through to carry a stand in is just too much to fool with spontaneously to try a spot out at any given time. If the stand was already at the location it would allow for more versatile hunting and first up a tree first served in case someone else had the same idea in the area. Of course we'd either have to lock those stands up or chance them being taken but I could live with that.

 

[280longshot]

How is the two stand rule enforced at Ames? Who has time to roam the woods looking, unless some other member complains.

 

[Andy S.]

^^^^^ Believe me, between Ames employees, our 100 members, the member's guests, and the UTK graduate students that conduct field days and research out there, nothing goes unnoticed. I've always said you could chit in the woods at Ames two miles from the blacktop and someone will be talking about it within a day or so. :D

 

[280longshot]

^^^^^ Believe me, between Ames employees, our 100 members, the member's guests, and the UTK graduate students that conduct field days and research out there, nothing goes unnoticed. I've always said you could chit in the woods at Ames two miles from the blacktop and someone will be talking about it within a day or so. :D

[emoji14]

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[Mike Belt]

Some of the Ames employees police the area but the members themselves are the real watchdogs.

 

[Tennessee Lead]

I guess a body would get used to it but Ames doesn't sound like an enjoyable place to hunt with all the odd rules. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Winchester]

Archery success is definitely dependent upon being EXACTLY where you need to be! A 30 yard miscue and your a spectator instead of shooter. I definitely hang stands TOTALLY different for my archery hunting VS gun hunting, so much easier with a gun where you can kill them pretty much anywhere you can see them, atleast in this country.